"As the story goes, a group of architectural students at Washington University decided to put up a ribbon," Vescolani explains.

It was a prank the Science Center embraced and now requires two or three men, at the very least, four or five hours to bolt into place around the planetarium.

"And it stays up there with fingers crossed all winter long," adds Dave Thomas, the man who climbs the planetarium to bring the rest of us joy.

On the ground, however, you can see just how big the vinyl bow is.

"So this piece here is this piece here and this part is the this part of the bow and then these pieces on the edge here are the ones that come down," Vescolani says comparing his bow tie to the approximately 20 by 30 foot one in the warehouse.

Year after year, they carefully raise the five sections and ribbon into place to carry on a holiday tradition that started more than 40 years ago.

"I guess it's one of the happier jobs you do cause it kicks off the holiday season in St. Louis to me," Thomas adds.